Chapter 994: Siege

Celesta.

Bonnot de Couron wanted to fight a bloody battle with the main force led by Franz in the ruins.

However, Franz did not want to kill too many French people, because it was meaningless in his opinion.

However, Franz's request made his staff very difficult. At this time, the German coalition had an absolute advantage, and there were also residents in Celesta as internal support. It was only a matter of time to annihilate the French army.

The staff had countless ways to kill the French, but how to send these French back to France safely was difficult.

The French army's strength in Celesta was unknown. Although a large number of reconnaissance balloons were sent, the number of enemy troops could not be confirmed due to the obstruction of the buildings.

As for the captured prisoners, their confessions were different, and the information did not match at all, so it was naturally impossible to judge the authenticity.

This made the Austrian reconnaissance team very depressed, because they had never encountered such a ghost situation, and the information provided by each French prisoner was different.

The most important thing is that according to their experience, these French prisoners did not lie.

In the end, the data given by the intelligence department of the coalition forces was that the French army in Celesta was between 40,000 and 80,000.

In fact, at this time, Bonnot de Couron did not know how many troops he had, because the previous battle was defeated too quickly.

In addition, the fighting in the city had never stopped, and the organization of the French army in Celesta was extremely chaotic at this time, so the French prisoners could not tell clearly.

Franz has always believed that professional matters should be handed over to professionals. Before he came, he recruited ten people from each of the three major military academies of the Austrian Empire and twenty senior staff officers from the army.

In addition to the military talents of the various principalities in the German Confederation, Franz felt that these hundreds of elites would definitely give him a satisfactory answer.

In fact, compared with the European battlefield, he was more concerned about whether Frederick's navy could defeat the British new Mediterranean fleet.

Although Franz had done almost everything to win the naval battle, including nearly ten years of preparation, various new weapons and tactics, bribery, and even the rebellion of the British allies.

Everything was for this naval battle, but there was still no 100% certainty.

There were too many variables in the naval battle. If the British new Mediterranean Fleet could not be completely wiped out, Austria would fall into endless troubles. The war might drag on for a year or two, and it might even cause the Crimean War to be staged ahead of schedule.

When the news of the victory in the Mediterranean naval battle came, everyone in the German coalition was in disbelief, and then ecstasy.

"Victory!"

"Long live!"

"We are invincible!"

Then there was the sound of "beep, pop, pop" of champagne. Fortunately, this was the production area of ​​champagne, and fortunately, the local celebrities had just sent a batch of champagne, otherwise it would not be enough for these guys to waste.

This time, even Franz raised his glass, which was rare. Seeing the nominal supreme commander of the coalition raised his glass, everyone immediately quieted down and waited for Franz's lecture.

However, Franz did not want to make a long speech to ruin everyone's good mood. Besides, his identity and position determined that he was not suitable to talk too much on this occasion.

"Gentlemen! Cheers to victory!"

"Cheers to victory!"

Even if Franz did not say anything, his identity and status alone were enough to ignite the atmosphere at this time. The news quickly spread throughout the army. The Austrian Navy annihilated the arrogant British Empire fleet in the Mediterranean Sea Battle, which made the soldiers of the coalition very excited.

Needless to say, the Austrian soldiers, at this time there were a large number of nationalists in the armies of the German states, and they would naturally be proud of Austria's achievements.

After all, Austria was the leader of the German states at this time, and their emotions soon spread among the army.

The German coalition outside Celesta cheered, and the French army in the city was confused, but fortunately this was not the first time, they just thought it was some special hobby of the Germans.

It's just that some noble officers and soldiers who understand German didn't look very good. How could the Austrian Navy beat the British Navy?

But if this is true, is there any point for them to continue to garrison Celesta?

However, they had no time to be afraid and confused, and the German coalition's attack began.

The German coalition's staff finally came to only one conclusion for Franz's request, that is, to fight first and talk later.

The German coalition first used reconnaissance hot air balloons to find the relatively weak points of the French defense, and then sent out skirmishers to feint in other directions until the French troops were attracted by the skirmishers, and then greeted them with heavy artillery and rockets, and at the same time sent the main force to attack the weak points of the French defense.

Since the Austrian reconnaissance hot air balloons could not be solved, the French could only fight the enemy who opened the whole map.

This made the French army in Celesta extremely frustrated. On the one hand, they had to be careful of being named by the coalition's skirmishers, and on the other hand, they had to reduce their gathering to prevent being greeted by the coalition's firepower.

And no matter how hard they tried to move, the battle was always very passive.

The Allied forces had an absolute advantage, so they were not in a hurry. The staff divided the French positions into hundreds of pieces, and they prepared to take them down piece by piece.

As for Franz's order to reduce casualties, they chose to selectively ignore it. At most, they just asked symbolically whether to surrender before the final attack, and gave the other side ten seconds to think about it.

Many French soldiers were killed before they figured out what the German coalition said.

There were many people who could speak French in the German coalition, but most of them were officers, and the soldiers only knew their hometown dialect or 20 words they would know on the battlefield.

So this kind of fighting style would hardly capture prisoners, and the tactics were very successful. The French had no countermeasures, and France would surrender in a week or two at most.

However, Franz still called off this kind of fighting style. On the one hand, it was too much of a loss of weapons and manpower, and on the other hand, if it continued like this, the French would definitely be wiped out.

At this time, the Austrian frontline commanders were all confused, but since it was an order, they would execute it immediately.

Colonel Heslett was the commander of the 46th Infantry Regiment in Graz. His regiment was one of the elite troops that received new weapons and street fighting simulation training earlier.

With the help of new weapons, new equipment, new tactics, and hot air balloons all over the map, Colonel Heslett did not feel how cruel the street fighting was. Instead, he felt that the French were a group of pigs who could not move or run around.

"Go to the reserve!"

"Do you want to end the battle in one go before the official order arrives?"

The adjutant asked cautiously.

The so-called official order is actually one of the chronic diseases of the Austrian Imperial Army. There has been an unwritten rule in the Austrian Imperial Army since the Middle Ages.

Officers above the regimental level have the right to question their superiors and refuse to execute the orders of their superiors. They need to get a second confirmation before they can execute them.

This is the so-called "official order", but after Archduke Karl's military reforms and a series of disastrous defeats in the anti-French war, few people emphasize this right anymore.

Franz felt that the original purpose of the Austrian Empire's tacit permission to exist should be to win over those small nobles and monks who follow the wind, but over time it has become a cancer that is difficult to remove.